Petallia later explained his comment -- and provided context -- in a statement.

"During a short break on the House floor, Republican Rep. Gail Haines, a leading advocate on women's issues in the Legislature, gave some of us magazines to read and asked to take our photo with them," Petallia said.

"A member of the media then walked up behind her and snapped another photo. As part of that lighthearted moment, I made an off-the-cuff remark that has since been taken way out of context."

"The war on women is alive and well in Michigan," said Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum, a former state representative who was temporarily barred from speaking on the floor two years ago during a debate on a controversial abortion-related bill.

"Now three Republican lawmakers today – all white men – made an open mockery of women on the House floor by posing with fashion magazines to showcase, in their words, that they understand women's issues."

Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Lon Johnson suggested that the Republican lawmakers had turned the "House floor into a frat party" and said they should apologize for their "out of touch Republican agenda."

Republican state Rep. Andrea LaFontaine of Columbus Township said she felt that Democrats were blowing the matter out of proportion.

"At the end of the Day, I'm so tired of Democrats making victims out of women," she told MLive. "As a successful Republican myself, a young professional who's part of the leadership team in Lansing, this just floors me.

"I'm sorry if I seem fired up about it, but at the end of the day, I think I'm going to succeed in my career because of my beliefs, because of my hard work and because of the results that we as Republicans are producing in the state of Michigan."